Mohit Raina is all set to play the grown-up Ashoka in Chakravartin Ashok Samrat that is going to take a 10 year leap. SANGEETA YADAV travels to the sets at Karjat near Mumbai to bring a report
After being in the limelight as Mahadev, Mohit Raina has now stepped in to play Ashok in Chakravartin Ashok Samrat, earlier played by Siddharth Nigam. The 10-year leap in the show, starting May 2 at 9 pm on Colors, forays into a new chapter in the life of Ashok who has become merciless, cold and powerful. It unfolds the journey of the rise of a true warrior and the Emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty, and how love blossoms in his life, changing him and making him a different person altogether.
For Mohit Raina, playing Ashoka was his long-awaited dream that has finally come true. “Ever since Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev went off air, I was looking for a role which is extraordinary and larger than life. At the same time, Ashok’s pre-production work had started and I wanted to be a part of this show since that time. My family is a big fan of the serial. I was praying for the leap to happen so that I could step in,” Raina tells you.
Even the makers had Raina in mind. “Mohit was my first choice. Ashok is a multi-dimensional character and I’m sure he will live up to the expectations because he has that spark in him and can play the role of such a dynamic figure with aplomb. As far as whether he will be able to break his image as Mahadev is concerned, all good actors break their image and make a new one with the same lasting impression on the viewers. I don’t think you get typecast in the audiences’ mind. They have evolved beyond that now. Mohit is definitely somebody who has the capacity and capability of breaking the stereotype,” Abhimanyu Singh, CEO, Contiloe, says.
Raina, on the other hand, is sure and confident that he’ll be able to create that same magic and win over the hearts of the audiences. “As an actor, you can only play a character with full conviction, do justice to it and move on. The popularity of the character not only depends upon how convincingly one is portraying it but how well it has been written. I will do whatever is required to be as close to Ashok as I can. Siddharth, who played the younger Ashok, has done a great job so far. It is a very difficult role to play hereafter. I hope I’ll carry forward the role with same popularity and hope to make Ashok as popular as Mahadev,” Raina says.
Talking about what he has perceived of the show he says: “The Ashok Samraj was a very big empire in 200 BC. Ashok is therefore an immensely popular and successful king in the minds of the people in our country. I’m still in the process of understanding what kind of person he was. Ashok carried a heavy baggage from the past and had different layers to his personality. It will take some time for me to get into the skin of the character as we have just started shooting for the show. But I don’t think it should be too much of a difficulty portraying Ashok. I’m working on my physique, learning horse riding, sword fighting etc. I’m following the director’s vision of the serial and trying to keep the benchmark high,” Raina says.
The show will also have Somya Seth playing Kaurwaki (Ashok’s love interest), Ankit Arora as Sushim, Kajol Shrivastav as Devi and Dakssh Ajit Singh as Radhagupta.
It’s not just the starcast but the set, costumes and advanced VFX that have also gone through a transformation. “For the first time you’ll see two stalwart set designers, Omung Kumar and Nitin Desai, coming together to built the throne, kingdom and the entire set. Omung has given the design whereas Nitin has put that out for all to see. We are going to use state of the art visuals to give new effects. Our VFX team has not had the required time needed but they have still done a fabulous job,” Singh says.
